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Advocacy - working on your behalf to:
- Promote the advancement of the dental hygiene profession
- Promote the oral health of the public
- Promote access to oral health
Advocacy is an important component in any organization and its members to make legislators aware if their positions on policy issues. As a licensed profession governed by state practice acts and rules, dental hygiene is directly impacted by many policy issues that shape day-to-day dental hygiene practice and the delivery of oral health care services. The involvement of you, a dental hygiene professional and member, is critical to the success of any advocacy effort!
Scope of practice, access to care, continuing education, and reimbursement under Medicaid are all examples of issues that require advocacy at the state or federal level. In many instances, ADHA and constituent state associations work in collaboration with other organizations, including organized dentistry, to affect policy changes.
At the national level, ADHA works with Congressional leaders, federal agencies and other associations to promote federal policies that encourage increased availability of oral health care.
At the state level, ADHA assists state associations to work with state legislatures and state dental/dental hygiene boards to improve laws and regulations that protect the public's oral health and enhance the practice of dental hygiene. For more information about the advocacy efforts of your state association, visit the state's website: [link to list of state websites/contact info]
The practice of dental hygiene has come a long way in the past 15 years. Check out this chart to see some of the areas of progress. |
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Get Involved in ADHA's Grassroots!
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ADHA Health Reform Statement |
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Download the statement |
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Get Involved! Urge your Representative to Support H.R. 2220: Essential Oral Health Care Act of 2009 |
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Get contact information for the Member of the House of Representatives who represents you at: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
The “Essential Oral Health Care Act of 2009” (H.R. 2220) seeks to ensure that individuals covered by a state’s dental Medicaid plan have access to oral health care services to the same extent as such services are available to the population of the state. The bill is sponsored by Representatives Mike Ross (D-AR), Mike Simpson (R-ID), and Edolphus Towns (D-NY).
H.R. 2220 offers states a new option to bolster state Medicaid reimbursement for dental service with enhanced federal matching funds. The bill seeks to improve one of the fundamental problems with the dental Medicaid program—inadequate funding. H.R. 2220 would offer states the option (not a mandate) to redesign its plan in a manner that:
- pays market rate fees,
- eliminates administrative barriers,
- ensures there are enough oral health providers signed up and willing to provide care, and
- educates parents and other caregivers on the importance of seeking dental care to ensure that there is a demand for needed dental services.
H.R. 2220 also provides federal grants of up to $3 million per year for fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to support community-based initiatives that provide free oral health services to the underserved. Dental hygiene, dental, and postdoctoral dental education programs that offer free dental services to underserved populations are all eligible for the grants. Oral health providers and programs deliver millions of dollars of donated care each year and the grants could be used to purchase portable or mobile dental equipment and to pay for operational costs, including service delivery costs for the provision of free care. The federal grants provided in H.R. 2220 would facilitate the continued viability of these very effective programs.
To view the full text and status of H.R. 2220 visit: The Essential Oral Health Care Act of 2009
Organizations that support H.R. 2220:
Academy of General Dentistry
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
American Dental Association
American Dental Education Association
American Dental Hygienists’ Association
Children’s Dental Health Project |
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2008 Oral Health Practitioner Developments in Minnesota |
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Final OHP Workgroup |
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OHP efforts in Minnesota |
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Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner (ADHP) |
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Since ADHA's House of Delegates passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a mid-level oral health practitioner, the Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner (ADHP), in 2004, the association has been working to engage policy makers at all levels to generate support for the new provider. To learn more about the ADHP, check out the ADHP section of the website.
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Building an Effective Legislative Team |
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Use this manual to learn more about how your state can effectively advocate for dental hygiene-friendly policy. [Link to Member Services] |
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HYPAC
For more information about HYPAC and instructions on how to lend your support to the political action committee that represents your profession, visit http://hypac.adha.org or contact Stacey Chappell at staceyc@adha.net
Stateline
The Stateline column appears in every issue of Access magazine as a way to update members on legislative and regulatory developments in the states.
Read the latest edition of Stateline to get legislative news on oral health care from coast to coast.
Bills Signed into Law in 2009 [link to pdf]
Self-Regulation of Dental Hygiene [link to pdf]
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